BB restaurant owner jailed for noise-making

“Excessive and petty” is how Freckled Fin owner Scott Lubore described his arrest for a noise ordinance violation at his Bradenton Beach bar-restaurant at 101 Bridge St.

Lubore, 48, was arrested April 5 — and taken to the Manatee County jail — after BBPD Officer Steven Masi heard loud music at 8:40 p.m. while on Fourth Street South coming from Bridge Street.

“The music seemed louder than the normal range,” Masi reported. “I could hear that the music was coming from the Freckled Fin and not the Island Time, because they had no live music at this time playing.”

Lubore described a “rocking” spring-break scene at the corner of Bridge Street and Gulf Drive with Freckled Fin’s bar “getting crushed” and people dancing on balconies along Bridge Street.

“I’m not saying we weren’t over the limit, we were,” Lubore said about the noise level.

Still the Freckled Fin owner complains he’s been unfairly targeted.

“The mayor wants to make a point,” he said, adding Mayor Bill Shearon holds a grudge about Lubore refusing to pick up the mayor’s dog poop.

Lubore views his night in the Manatee County jail “a waste of taxpayer’s money,” for the use of BBPD and jail resources. “For what?” he said, adding he was responsible for the same fine.

“Noise is noise,” Shearon said, adding Lubore had been warned.

As far as the dog poop, the mayor said it was something he didn’t see, because he is sight-impaired, but once made aware, he curbed the mess.

Masi measured the April 5 noise from the Freckled Fin at 81-86 decibels across the street at 200 Gulf Drive and then at the Freckled Fin property line, where 93-98 decibels registered. The city noise limit for the 7-10 p.m. time frame is 75 decibels.

Between 2016 and the end of March, nine complaints took police to the Freckled Fin and the bar-restaurant was ticketed five times.

Noise blamed on the Freckled Fin March 26, however, was from Island Time Bar and Grill, an incident for which Island Time managers were warned, according to BBPD Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz.

The Freckled Fin owner wants to know how many times other Bradenton Beach bars and restaurants, including the Drift In, Sports Lounge, Island Time Bar and Grill and BridgeTender have been cited with noise complaints, adding he’s requested the data from the city — and received no response.

Shearon said Lubore should check with city clerk Terri Sanclementi on his record request.

Lubore and his wife met with Diaz March 23 and, according to an email from Diaz, they were advised the BBPD would arrest the person in charge if the establishment violated the noise ordinance.

Diaz said Island Time Bar and Grill owner Bill Herlihy was given the same warning.

About Lubore’s arrest, Police Chief Sam Speciale said, “They’d been warned not to exceed the level or someone would be arrested. He did and so he was.”

I often tell people that Anna Maria island and it’s vibe makes me feel like I’m in a Jimmy Buffet song and that I hope I can spend whatever time I have left on earth at the freckled fin listentening to live music and watching the gulf sunsets. Good luck to the owner in this matter and thank you for constantly walking the floor asking how are food and service was. The vibe on gulf road is nothing short of amazing. Good clean fun in one of the most spectacular places on earth. Coch